THE SPIDER EA VISHERS. 141 



Soon she stopped again and resumed her attack, biting savagely 

 at the legs near their junction with the body and now, looking 

 closely, we saw that two of them had been completely cut off. 

 While occupied in this way the wasp was evidently intensely ex- 

 cited. She lay on one side with the abdomen bent under, turn- 

 ing the spider over and over as she worked. After a time she 

 carried it onward to the potato-field, where the plants afforded 

 some shelter, and placing it upon a leaf, well above the ground, 

 began to dig near by. She worked almost entirely with her 

 mandibles, lying sometimes on her side and sometimes on her 

 back as she cut away the earth, which was pushed out with the 

 end of her abdomen. When she had worked for ten minutes 

 and had gone in the length of her body, she picked up the spider 

 and made rapidly off with it, several times rising on her wings 

 and flying backward for a few inches. A little further along 

 she again deposited it on a leaf and began to dig in a fresh place. 

 At the end of twenty minutes the nest was ready but in bring- 

 ing the spider she missed her direction and carried it to one side. 

 Dropping it on the ground she began to hunt about for her 

 hole, but was distracted with excitement and ran so far afield 

 that we feared she would never find it. At last, however, she 

 came to the place, ran in for a moment, brought the spider 

 nearer, dropped it and ran to the nest once more, caught it up 

 again, and tried to back in with it. She was holding it by the 

 under side of the body, the venter being toward the hole, and 

 the legs spread out and stopped its entrance. A moment's tug- 

 ging convinced her that this would not do, and she then turned 

 the spider over, holding it by the back, whereupon the legs at 

 once folded themselves across the underside of the thorax and 

 the spider was drawn out of sight. 



After the egg w r as laid the wasp came up to the edge of the 

 hole and drawing in some earth with her mandibles began to 

 dance up and down upon it, jamming it into place with her 

 abdomen. Afterwards she came up higher and drew the dirt 

 in with her first legs, not getting out of the hole until it was 

 entirely filled up. Then began a remarkable performance. 



